CBI books NTPC Director-Finance for graft, searches residence

The CBI has booked the Director (Finance) of the state-run power utility NTPC Limited, along with two others, in connection with a case pertaining to corruption, and carried out search at his residence at Asian Games Village here, agency officials said today.
The agency has registered an FIR against NTPC's Kulamani Biswal, BGR Mining and Infra Private Limited director Rohit Reddy Bathina and Prabhat Kumar.
Biswal is part of the Board of Directors of NTPC, the country's largest energy conglomerate.
Kumar, a confidant of Bathina, was assigned to deliver Rs 5 lakh of alleged illegal gratification to Biswal, the sources said.

The FIR registered by the agency has alleged that Biswal demanded from Bathina that he should arrange US dollars of about Rs 5 lakh to be spent by him during his trip abroad. He was scheduled to leave for his overseas trip today.
Bathina offered to deliver the amount in Delhi or Bhubaneshwar, it alleged.

Biswal then asked Bathina to give him the cash in Indian currency in Delhi itself which he would convert to USD, the agency alleged, adding that Bathina told him that the amount would be delivered by Kumar in Delhi.
"...Bathina arranged for the delivery of Rs 5 lakh in cash through hawala channels to Prabhat Kumar for further delivery to Kulamani Biswal in Delhi," it alleged.

Kumar was arrested by the agency while he was about to deliver the amount, the sources said.